India Masala
Bollywood and culture in an emerging India
Chaalis Chauraasi: Stellar cast, not-so-stellar film
The one thing director Hriday Shetty’s film “Chaalis Chauraasi” can boast of is a stellar cast. With actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Atul Kulkarni and Kay Kay Menon as his leads, and a story idea with lots of great possibilities, it’s safe to say this film sounds great on paper.
Of course, most films must sound good on paper or else no one would make them, but that’s another story (or a blog). “Chaalis Chauraasi” is fashioned as a caper film, in which four small-time crooks plan on getting their hands on a huge sum of money that is lying in a deserted house in the middle of nowhere.
They decide to disguise themselves as policemen, get hold of a police car and make their way to their destination, but as you’d guess, nothing is quite so simple and the plan doesn’t quite work as they expected.
Naseeruddin Shah plays Mohit Suri, the leader of the gang, and somewhat of a mentor to the other three. Kay Kay Menon plays Pinto (a car thief), Atul Kulkarni plays Bobby (a small-time pimp whose dream is to one day own a “world-class escort service”) and Ravi Kishan is Shakti (a drug trader).
Together, the four have a good chemistry on screen and their camaraderie is evident, but Shetty’s direction plays spoilsport. Like an errant driver who is never sure of where he’s going or when he should accelerate, Shetty keeps veering off track, introducing bad comedy tracks or meaningless item songs at crucial moments.
The item songs (three of them) are especially jarring, almost as if Shetty is trying to make up for the lack of a female lead. The film doesn’t have the tight pace a caper film should have, and some of the scenes are pretty amateurish.
For example, in one tense hotel room scene, where Kulkarni and Menon’s characters enter a room tentatively, looking for a gangster, the entire camera set-up and the cameraperson are reflected in a TV set in the room. That’s something you’d think a director would notice.
Ishqiya: Raw, gripping cinema
Even if you didn’t know it before, the first few frames of debutant director Abhishek Chaubey’s ‘Ishqiya’, will confirm that he has imbibed a lot of his skill from his mentor Vishal Bhardwaj. The look, tone and feel of the film are all very reminiscent of Bhardwaj’s films.
That said, Chaubey does bring his own sensibility to the film, depicting the arid, gritty landscape of Western UP and its people with a freshness that we haven’t seen very often on screen.
His characters are equally gritty, and have rough edges, and speak in a language we aren’t too used to hearing on screen, but feel so much more real. So when we meet Khalujaan (Naseeruddin Shah) and his nephew Babban (Arshad Warsi), two small-time crooks who run away with money that belongs to a local don, they seem to fit right into the landscape of the film.
On the run, they take shelter with Krishna (Vidya Balan), a widow who lives alone. But when the money goes missing and the don threatens to kill all of them if they don’t return it back to him, they devise a new plan to get back the money. In the midst of all this is the film’s main theme — Krishna’s relationship with the two men, her motives and what love means to her.
This is the kind of film that wouldn’t have mass appeal, but it is nevertheless gripping cinema. Chaubey makes a very assured debut and every frame appears to be very carefully thought out. The film has a brisk pace and a short run time of two-and-half hours ensures that you are hooked at all times.
A special mention for the casting in the film – whether it is Vidya Balan as the femme fatale Krishna, or Alok Kumar as the young sweeper in the film, they are all so entrenched in the milieu of the film that you don’t for one minute think of them as actors playing roles.
In the end, Ishqiya is bold, raw cinema. It may not be pleasant on the eyes or ears and may not have huge sets or big item numbers, but it is hugely impactful.
Agree with Raven21. Was impressed with Adil Hussain’s performance — although must say everyone else did their best too. Good screenplay, good acting make this film a must-watch. Proves that script is the key. I watched this film only bcos I couldn’t get tickets for ‘My Name is Khan’ (seriously how come MNIK is housefull even now) but I don’t regret it.
A Wednesday — a thriller with a difference
A film that lasts under two hours is a rarity in Bollywood. And when the film pits an anonymous caller against Mumbai police, curiosity is aroused.
Neeraj Pandey’s film “A Wednesday” starts promisingly with staccato shots of a man placing a bag at a railway terminus and in the washroom of a police station.
He then proceeds to the roof of a building under construction, where he has set up a desk with a computer and television.
The man calls the police commissioner, played by Anupam Kher, and warns of bombs going off in the city if his demands are not met.
That sets the tone for the rest of the film, one with the potential of being a tight, edge-of-the-seat thriller.
However, the action doesn’t have an urgency and there is none of the biting-your-nails suspense you expect from a thriller.
Kher relies on two officers played by Jimmy Sheirgill and Aamir Bashir, young men of totally different temperaments, to help him in this mission.
I go with what sam said.
this movie is one of an excellent and original piece, bollywood can ever get.
look i have seen more than 800 movies and i think you should support this movie if u r movie lover and not srk lover(but you should watch his SWADES). reviewer is poor in movies or of poor taste. i definitely know that she will be watching Ra-one. don’t listen to her.
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The Wall
